Wayland men’s wrestling qualifies five for national tourney

Wayland Baptist University

Published 5:57 am, Tuesday, February 19, 2013

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Wayland men’s wrestling qualifies five for national tourney

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BALDWIN, Kan. - The Wayland Baptist men’s wrestling team had high hopes going into this weekend’s NAIA Central Region qualifying tournament at Baker University here on Saturday, and they weren’t disappointed. Thanks to some outstanding performances, the Pioneers finished in sixth place as a team and qualified half of the squad for the national tournament. Five Wayland wrestlers will represent Wayland at the NAIA National Championship slated for March 1-2 in Des Moines, Iowa.

To automatically qualify for the national tournament, wrestlers had to finish in the top four in their respective weight classes. However, since the central region is the largest in the country, coaches were allowed to collectively select several additional athletes to represent the region as wild cards at nationals in two weeks. As a result, Wayland ended the tournament with three automatic and two wild card qualifiers.

Head coach Johnny Cobb said he is excited about how his team performed on such a competitive national stage.

“We’re thrilled to death to qualify five of our guys for nationals, especially since this event was a true qualifier, meaning you had to finish in the top four or get a wild card slot to get to go,” he said. “In the past, there were lots of ways to get to nationals, but this is the only way now, so it’s a big deal. To be able to take five is probably as much as we could have hoped for and we feel pretty outstanding about it.”

Wayland’s top finisher in the tournament was the university’s first-ever all-American, “Chino” Jose Alvarez, who took second place in the 174-lb. weight class, wrapping up the event with a 3-1 record. In the 285-lb. heavyweight class, Markese Christian finished third, ending the day with a 4-1 record. Chris Hart took fourth place among the 141-pounders and was 3-2 at the tournament.

Additionally, the central region coaches selected Pioneers Justin Williamson and John Mark Avila, who finished fifth and sixth respectively in their weight classes, as wild card qualifiers. Williamson was 3-2 in the 125-lb. weight class, while Avila went 2-2 with the 149-lb. athletes.

“We feel like Chino can win the national tournament,” Cobb said. “The kid from Grand View University (who took first place in the weight class) is really outstanding but he only won by one point. Because of just six seconds of riding time, he got that extra point for the win. Chino didn’t take that really well because he doesn’t settle for second, but he’s motivated to go to nationals and prove what can do.

“We’re counting on him to be an all-American again (by placing in the top eight at nationals) and our first ever national champion at Wayland. He’s not been able to compete much this year due to an injury, so he had an excellent tournament all things considered.”

Cobb had nothing but praises for Wayland’s big man, who worked hard to shake things up in his weight class.

“Markese was probably one of the biggest surprises, as he wasn’t really even seeded,” he said. “He did a great job in one of the toughest, deepest divisions with the most athletes. For him to step up and get third was outstanding. He’s believing in himself right now and he knows he has what it takes to be an all-American as well.”

The head coach also said his 141-lb. wrestler showed a lot of heart.

“Chris could have just as easily been in the finals,” Cobb said. “He had some very close matches and he was confident he could have beaten anybody he wrestled. He had a few things that didn’t go his way, but Chris is sure of himself.”

As for his wild card qualifiers, Cobb was tickled pink to have two very strong additional athletes make the national tournament.

“Justin is really going to surprise some people at nationals because he just seems to get better every time he wrestles,” he said. “I’m looking for him to get even better at the tournament. John Mark didn’t have his best day, but he’s been on such a winning streak and his class was so tough, so he still did well. It was great to get him qualified for nationals because of his recent performances and the depth of his weight class. I know he’s going to get to nationals and shake things up.”

The five Pioneers who also competed at this weekend’s tournament were Donovan Vanderbilt at 133 lbs. (0-2), Paz Acosta at 141 lbs. (1-2), Miguel Tovar at 184 lbs. (0-2), Jacob Stock at 197 lbs. (0-2) and Frisco DeLeon at 285 lbs. (1-2). Bernie Gonzalez, who usually wrestles for Wayland at the 157 lb. weight class, did not compete due to a recently dislocated elbow.

The Pioneers will have two weeks to get prepared before they head off to nationals, where hundreds of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country will convene for the year’s biggest event.

“We went in there this weekend feeling like we were well-trained and prepared,” Cobb said. “We had some heartbreakers and some of our guys know they could have performed better, but some really stepped it up. That’s just wrestling…you have some good days and some bad days. Our kids tried to leave it all out there, they did really well and we’re going to be ready for Des Moines.”